Awesome As I Wanna Be

Chapter 9: Copycat

Madam Pearl Gradient had watched in utter joy from the Wonderbolts stadium at the interactions between her prized pupil and energetic friend. She seemed very upset by something... Pearl wondered what that could possibly be? The Wonderbolts were kind enough to extend their break by dealing with their fans that just miraculously appeared where they were eating. In all honesty, it had gone much, much better than she could've imagined. The girl charging at her, then falling over the cliff, the screams. It was all just too perfect! Pearl had started to clap in great excitement as the ground rushed to meet the pink one. Seeing Rainbow fly off the cliff and collect her at great speed was also very impressive but the thing she enjoyed most was watching her heal her friend. Rainbow was growing careless with her powers now, even if she did not realise it just yet.

All it took was a few more moves and counter moves before she crumpled, falling to her knees and begging for mercy. Mercy that would be given in death. If Rainbow refused the advanced training and continued on this path to involve her loved ones, death would be the best. She had no idea to what extent her powers could grow to, even if she hated what her life would become, Rainbow would protect everyone and everything. 'Your move.' Madam Gradient had taunted her after the burning barn with that message but she was yet to feel that Rainbow had made it. Tempting and baiting her was only working so far however the loyalty Rainbow held to her friends would be what broke her. Although destroying their ancestral barn, risking their livelihood and hurting their trust was quite a lot for one person to handle, Rainbow was still ready to fight.

'Perhaps her loyalty to her friends wouldn't break her... But people are loyal to more than that.' With that thought in mind, Madam Gradient left the arena to plan her next move.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow was in a blind panic. Applejack and now Pinkie had both nearly died from her actions. However it was her speed that had saved them both, another reason why her Equestrian magic was better suited to her current life. Her main goal now was to figure out that post. All evidence pointed to Madam Gradient being the culprit behind it yet Rainbow couldn't remember her former headteacher being advanced enough in technology to do that. Although it probably wasn't that hard to pretend to be someone or hack their account, the village provided little opportunity for such computering skills.

The fear that was consuming her though was starting to become a problem. When Rainbow became fearful she became angry, when she became angry she became dangerous. Her powers responded most uncontrollably whenever she felt frustrated. Like with the shard of glass that spontaneously combusted, Rainbow had no control over that.

Flying towards her home, she knew her questions could be answered with a few internet searches. Nothing was locked from public knowledge nowadays. Arriving home, Rainbow saw her dad out in the garden and her mum was asleep on the couch. Mid-day nap time. That would make her return all the less known. Going upstairs to her bedroom, Rainbow closed the door as quietly as she could and smiled at her pet, Tank. He had never once seemed to judge her for anything, a trait Rainbow was realising came in short supply.

Activating her laptop, she typed in her password and went on social media. Checking all of her privacy settings, Rainbow felt slightly better at seeing that they were all private. No one except her could do anything and no one but the people she chose could see what she put. All the more reason for Pinkie to be upset, so far only Rainbow could've posted such a thing. Checking her phone, her gallery contained no picture that matched the one on the post which meant someone had created and altered the image. Rainbow was also completely certain that her fingers had never pressed the keys to type the message.

That meant that someone, namely Madam Gradient, must've fully constructed this post using what Rainbow considered to be quite technical skills. Stumped as to how to rectify this situation, she laid down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. Contrary to what her parents may believe, Rainbow was aware that there had been an increase in her use of her Iridescent powers. Lately though they just seemed to be coming in handy. The world was forcing her to use them and she was breaking under the pressure.

Sighing, she submitted to using them now. To get to the bottom of this technical fiasco would mean she would need electrical or something similar in terms of her abilities. The closest thing Rainbow could use was her stormy powers that would most likely destroy her phone, laptop and any other electrical devices within a short but powerful radius. Rainbow's other alternative was to use her copying ability. It was mostly used to replicate something like a pen or spice if they ever quickly needed one. Copying was perhaps the power she used the least but Rainbow decided that it couldn't hurt to get creative. Her idea was to try and copy the post and hope that it would provide her with some answers.

Closing her eyes, Rainbow began the incantation she'd spoken less than an hour ago. Afterwards, her hair glowed orange and a tingly sensation worked its way through her body to her fingers pressed against the screen. Electrical static seemed to fly off the screen near the light as it transferred from her body to the screen. Once it had entered, she opened her eyes and gasped. Her power had worked better than expected. With the idea if replicating the post, she'd also replicated the entire account of whoever created it.

Checking the profile, Rainbow confirmed that the person responsible was Madam Gradient. She didn't know what purpose trying to destroy Pinkie's carrer served the crazy lady but she seemed intent on ruining the lives of her friends. Finding the post, Rainbow quickly worked at removing the actual thing and anything that could be traced back to it. She wasn't sure if her hacking the account would be noticed by anyone but she felt comfortable enough to take that risk. The only downside was that Pinkie had seen the post and so had the Flim-Flam brothers. They wouldn't stop trying to sue the Cakes just because the post had disappeared. All Rainbow had done was stop more damage being done from the source. Whatever happened after that needed to be contained in a different way.

Looking over at Tank who had gotten up rather slowly and had made his way over to his food supply, Rainbow wondered what bothered a tortoise. Hibernation would be one but he never seemed particularly worried about the three month sleep awaiting him at the end of the year. 'Must be nice to sleep for an entire year.' Rainbow considered, remembering all those mornings she woke up and still felt utterly exhausted. That's why she was always grateful whenever a weekend rolled around.

Like a lightbulb, an idea lit up in her brain! When Wallflower Blush had used that memory stone to take away their memories of Sunset, they had all been asleep. No one had felt or remembered anything. Although the stone had been destroyed, there may be more than one way to erase someone's memory. Rainbow would have to do some research. Grinning at Tank, she walked over to his enclosure and kissed his shell. "Thanks buddy, you're the best." Then she let him eat in peace.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, updated daily. I wonder what Rainbow will try and do now? I'll probably update again tomorrow so until then bye, bye.